GRANTEE:                   Textron, Inc.

ADDRESS:                  2301 Horizon Dr. 

                             Fort Worth, TX 76177-5300

AMOUNT:                    $2,000,000

DURATION:                January 5, 2004 - January 5, 2007 (36 months)

POPULATION SERVED:  This project will train 800 incumbent workers in the area of Information Technology and Computer Science. 

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:  This project will offer Information Technology (IT) training courses to the incumbent workforce.  Many of the courses lead to industry recognized certifications.  These training courses were selected based on the specific IT needs of each partnering employer.  The three main areas of training will be: Systems and Network Administration; Software and Web Development/ Programming; and Database Administration.  There will be many other certifications and course tracts provided as the need arises in the partnering employers.  Training will take place in 122 sites in as many as 26 states. 

The partnering employers have committed to $2,304,000 in-kind match in the form of trainee wages paid during the project. 

The project will provide certifications from Novell (CNA/CNE), Cisco (CCNA/CCNP), Microsoft (MCP/MCSA/MCSE), Oracle (OCP), Sun (Java+), and many others.  Individual trainees will receive merit based wage increases on a case-by-case basis.  Partnering employees commit to using their local One-Stop Career Centers to help fill positions left vacant through promotion of trainees involved in this project.

Individual participants will be selected using a variety of tools and criteria: 1) previous performance evaluations; 2) pre-training education levels; 3) pre-existing employee training plans; 4) IT customer needs and requirements; and 5)probability of successful training completion.  IT management and the employee’s direct supervisors will perform the assessments. 

KEY PARTICIPANTS:  Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft, Textron Fastening Systems, Textron Industrial, Textron Financial, Textron Information Systems, The Marquis Group, NextGen, SkillSoft, ExecuTrain.

MEDIA CONTACT:    Chuck Schwab, VP Human Resources

                            (817) 590-1127